Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Price Up 5.5% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) were up 5.5% on Thursday. The company traded as high as $27.16 and last traded at $28.14. 323,341 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 2,023,550 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LQDA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush set a $58.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $108.00) on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, October 2nd. BTIG Research downgraded Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price objective on Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liquidia has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.69.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 2.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.69.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Liquidia had a net margin of 30.74% and a return on equity of 149.65%. The company had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.49) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $5,087,165.79. Following the sale, the insider owned 174,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,063,528.54. The trade was a 29.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total value of $3,703,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 142,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,536,145.90. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 757,996 shares of company stock worth $46,429,005 in the last quarter. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Liquidia by 18.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,341,000 after purchasing an additional 360,372 shares during the period. Eversept Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 677,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,565,000 after purchasing an additional 167,949 shares during the period. Pale Fire Capital SE boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 388,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,694,000. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its stake in Liquidia by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,459,000 after purchasing an additional 51,727 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with serious cardiopulmonary diseases and other rare conditions. The company uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition, with the goal of improving the delivery and performance of medicines.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder inhaler designed for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).